


(In All My Battles) Fight as My Comrade

by ExtraPenguin



Category: Star Wars Legends: Knights of the Old Republic (Video Games)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:13:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27390268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ExtraPenguin/pseuds/ExtraPenguin
Summary: Revan regains her memories in time for Korriban, and decides to take Yuthura Ban with her in her quest to stop Malak.
Relationships: Yuthura Ban/Female Revan
Comments: 6
Kudos: 18
Collections: Star Wars Rare Pairs 2020





	(In All My Battles) Fight as My Comrade

**Author's Note:**

  * For [revanchxst (BadWolfGirl01)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BadWolfGirl01/gifts).



> Title from Sappho's [Hymn to Aphrodite](https://diotima-doctafemina.org/translations/greek/sapphos-hymn-to-aphrodite/):
> 
> Come to me once more, and abate my torment;  
> Take the bitter care from my mind, and give me  
> All I long for; Lady, in all my battles  
> Fight as my comrade.

Revan – yes, she was Darth Revan, Dark Lord of the Sith, that much was clear now – turned the memories over in her mind again. Much was still murky, but she could remember training as a Jedi the first time, being a padawan, knight, and then master before falling to the dark side. She wasn't sure _why_ she'd fallen, however. There had been a reason. Something important. It couldn't have been a moment of passion – she was not that sort of person – and besides, Master Vrook still lived.

She also wasn't sure what had unlocked this revelation. It wasn't Tatooine or any of the walking around they'd done there. Deserts held no particular importance to her. The Krayt Dragon pearl was a nice addition to her lightsaber, but nothing more. Was it the droid?

Perhaps. Perhaps it had simply been time with the Force.

She was glad she'd chosen Korriban for their next stop. The Sith Academy there would have nothing to teach her, but it might prove fertile ground in which to regain more of her memories and connection to the Dark Side.

She took T3-M4 and HK-47 with her, on the grounds that they'd be least likely to do something stupid. As usual, she used the Force to get out of paying docking fees and strode towards the Academy.

After cowing a few idiots who thought being a Sith meant sniveling on the ground subserviently or being distracted from one's grander cause by the overwhelming urge to torture random bypassers to no gain, she was out of Dreshdae and on Korriban's surface, speaking to a guard of the Sith Academy. Who informed her that the only way to get in would be as a student of the academy, and to do that, she had to present a Yuthura Ban with a medallion of some sort.

The medallions were supposed to be freely given by a student to a hopeful. As this was rather pathetic and she was applying to a _Sith_ Academy, Revan simply took one by force. HK-47 was delighted in a nigglingly familiar way.

The guard had said Yuthura Ban was in the cantina. Revan strode into The Drunk Side.

A bunch of human drunks with the aura of a student, a Rodian, the barkeep – and a beautiful Twi'lek, dressed in a military uniform that perfectly complemented her blue-gray skin. The aura of command clung to her.

"Is there something you need, Jedi?" she asked as Revan approached. "Make it good, for I have little patience."

Oh, she awakened many needs in Revan, but for now, Revan held up the medallion she'd liberated from its previous owner. "I wish to join the Sith."

"So I see, from the medallion you carry. How curious that you possess one. Where did you get it?"

"I took it from another student," Revan said after deciding that quoting the relevant passage of the Sith Code might raise more questions than she wished to raise at this junction.

"I see. How very enterprising of you, though that is not the normal way that we select our students for the academy. We Sith do encourage such independent thinking. You may even be a suitable candidate to join us. That is what you wish, I take it? To become a Sith?"

There was _something_ here. This Yuthura Ban was more than just a mindless sadist. "Perhaps," Revan said. "It would depend on the quality of the instruction."

That caught Yuthura's interest. "Oh? An interesting remark, and not one I hear often. We wield ultimate power, my friend. To be a Sith is to taste freedom and to know victory. Nothing is as glorious as bending the Force to your will. And there are no other Sith Academies." She gazed at Revan consideringly, probing at her with the Force. "I don't believe the Sith Lords are taking apprentices. We are the only place where one can learn the ways of the Sith."

Revan saw Yuthura had seen something more than a bog-standard Jedi when she looked. Yes, her curiosity was tangible in the Force. "Do you consider yourself evil?"

"Is the sarkath beast who dominates his jungle evil? The tuk'ata who leaps on the squellbug for the kill? These are things of nature, of the universe. We are no different from this. The Force is part of the universe, part of the same laws. We were gifted to set us above the rest... to deny nature is foolish."

The answer was unremarkable. The emotions ... Revan would have to find out how Yuthura Ban had Fallen. Those who fell to the dark purely for power were not minions she was interested in commanding. Like Malak, they would betray her. Those for whom the dark side was a means rather than an end, those she would take and shape to her will. "I wish to become a Sith."

"Ah, good. Exactly the sort of answer I was hoping for." Yuthura narrowed her eyes. "Though there is something odd about you that I cannot place..."

Revan offered nothing. There had been reasons for her choice to never show her face.

"What is your name?"

Revan smiled. "You may call me Ashla Vong," she said, using the fake name the Council had bestowed upon her after Bastila had mind-wiped her.

Yuthura's eyes narrowed. "Very well. Follow me, Ashla Vong. The Master of the Academy awaits you."

Revan was brought to the center of a series of corridors within the Sith monastery. Memory-ends swam in her head, confirming her suspicion that she'd been here; had been here before the academy came with its loud apprentices with louder Force presences.

The head of the academy was Uthar Wynn. He spoke well enough and had a view of the Dark Side more complex than using Force lightning on random passersby; Revan thought she might have met him before. Perhaps she'd even placed him in charge of the academy personally.

But no matter: Yuthura Ban was much more intriguing. Gaining the necessary prestige to be chosen over the other hopefuls would be easy.

Revan let her mind go still and listened to the Force. Yuthura Ban was to the south.

"Ah, there you are... my favorite prospect for the year."

"Your favorite prospect?" Revan asked.

"Absolutely. By my estimation, you are far more likely to achieve the prestige necessary to join the Sith than any of the others. As a matter of fact, I am so certain of that that I'm willing to offer you an opportunity of the once-in-a-lifetime variety. Would you like to hear it?"

Revan would have her. She might try to cross her later – such was the way of oh too many Sith – but for now, Yuthura would be hers. "Definitely."

"I do so adore someone who's willing to take a chance," Yuthura said, then explained that the candidate with the most prestige would be brought to the tomb of Naga Sadow, in which Darth Revan and Darth Malak had discovered a Star Map. Revan would be brought there with only Yuthura and Uthar Wynn for company. There, they'd kill Uthar Wynn and make Yuthura the master of the academy.

"Of course," Revan said. Uthar Wynn was a terrible teacher, if the quality of the other students was any indication, and Yuthura Ban was intriguing. Though whether Revan would let her stay at the academy or take her with her was an open question. "Now, I would like to hear more about the next master of the academy," she asked Yuthura in a low voice. "I will bring you your victory, but tell me of your passion, your strength, your _power_."

"You've read up on the Sith," Yuthura said, trying to sound approving but betrayed by the catch in her voice. She swallowed. "I am originally from Sleheyron, if you must know. I was a slave to a cruel master, Omeesh the Hutt. I am sure you don't need to know more."

"I'd like to know how you Fell," Revan said in a pleasant voice.

"Surely that isn't necessary," Yuthura said, red-brown tattoos crinkling between her brows as she frowned.

"You are to be my teacher, instructing me in the ways of the Dark Side," Revan replied. "Is it not reasonable to want to know the path you took?"

Yuthura sighed. "I... see. Very well. I suppose there's no harm in the tale. As I said, I was originally a slave to one of the Hutts. The Hutts control everything on Sleheyron, and a slave is nothing to them. I was determined not to be 'nothing'. One night when the drunken worm had me alone in his chambers I stabbed him and escaped the compound. I stole onto a cargo ship and was not discovered by the crew until they reached the next system. They left me for dead on a desolate planetoid, alone... but that was fine by me. I was glad to be anywhere other than Sleheyron. It was not luck that I was eventually rescued, of course. The Force was strong with me, though I didn't know that at the time. Not until the Jedi told me, that is."

"And the Jedi trained you," Revan completed the thought. "What hypocrisy of theirs made you finally leave?"

She could feel Yuthura draw in on herself. Not a hypocrisy, then, but something personal, as Revan had thought. "I'd ... rather not discuss it."

Revan shrugged. "I just thought we could become friends," she said. _Or maybe something more,_ she sent to the Force. Yuthura might pick up on it, or she might not.

"You... certainly have odd notions for one hoping to become a Sith." Yuthura was visibly taken aback. "I'll play along... for now." She swallowed. "The Jedi took me in, but I never progressed beyond Padawan. I had discipline, but no peace... and after my treatment at the hands of the Hutts there was little room in me for the ways of the Jedi. I wanted to use the Force to free the other slaves I knew, to fight for what I knew was right. The Jedi restrained me until I couldn't stand it any more. They claim the dark side is evil, but that isn't so. Sometimes anger and hatred are deserved and right. Sometimes things change because of it."

It was hard for Revan to keep the triumph off her face. Malak might have betrayed her, but here she had someone with vastly greater potential. "I agree," Revan solemnly said.

"There is suffering and injustice in the universe. I am surprised the Jedi can even stand the stench of it, much less stand by and do nothing," Yuthura declared. Revan let herself nod in agreement. "I know this may sound strange, but only my compassion stands in my way, now. Once that is gone let the slavers beware."

An ally who lost sight of their goal and claimed power for power's sake would be no use to her. "If you lose your compassion, will you still care about those slaves?"

"I... yes, of course. I mean losing my compassion as in... holding back..." Yuthura shook her head as if to clear out the doubts Revan had raised. "But enough of that. I've talked about myself too much, surely you are tired of it."

"I shall return once it is time," Revan said. There was much she needed to teach Yuthura, but she would be a better ally than Malak, or Bastila, and seemed more stable than Juhani.

"Come back soon... my friend."

Success. Revan left with a gentle Force touch, at the edge of illusion, to Yuthura's lekku.

It took Revan half a day to walk around, betraying the various other students by exposing their schemes, defrauding them of artefacts, and letting them die. The tombs were nice, though she was deeply annoyed by the terrible attempts at archaeology disturbing them. She really needed to shut this place down.

Still, revisiting all her favorite tombs had been a nice holiday. She'd even had a chat with the Force ghost of Ajunta Pall, pathetic as he might be.

Prestige granted her the right to the Tomb of Naga Sadow – not that there was any competition left. She entered alone.

Her memories had been steadily returning over the course of her stay on Korriban. The tomb still held surprises for her, though. Some were things she did not yet remember; others, she suspected had changed when the tomb had turned from a sealed and unconquered territory into the final exam of the academy. Though she wondered where the hell Uthar Wynn had managed to source not one but _two_ terentatek.

It was probably meant to be an exercise in stealth, but Revan had already had enough of those – was on a very frustrating one currently – and was filled with the raw power of the Force. And through that power, she gained victory over both the terentatek. From there it was a short trip to gather the ice grenade that'd freeze the acid pool.

The Star Map and ceremonial lightsaber were in a mined chamber on the other side of the pool. Revan activated the Star Map and thought she might only need to look at one more to recall where she'd found the Star Forge.

She clipped the ceremonial lightsaber to her belt – it worked, but she preferred the one she already had, even if it wasn't her original one. The kyber crystal might be, though, blue like the first one that had been in the saber. She'd been made a Jedi Guardian this time around as well. Too bad for the Council she'd wanted to guard more than they wanted her to.

As she opened the door again, she saw Uthar Wynn and Yuthura Ban standing on the frozen pool of acid. It would certainly make for an interesting battleground, she thought.

"So you return to us with the lightsaber in hand, as I knew you would," Uthar Wynn said, and spoke of risks, of power, of passion, as if Revan didn't know it better than him, as if Revan hadn't been the one to teach him what little he knew of the Sith ways.

"I think I understand," Revan said, wondering when she could brandish her lightsaber.

"Good. The last part of your test will now commence. Here you will learn the lesson of competition. All life must compete in order to flourish. Such is the natural way of the universe. To stand still is to know death... one must always be moving forward. So is it the same amongst the Sith. Compete or die. Mercy is irrelevant. So it behooves you in this final test to strike down one you are familiar with, for no other reason than to prove you are superior and without mercy. Normally this would be against another student. You, however, get a special treat. You will fight Yuthura, here... my own apprentice."

"You talk too much, old fool," Yuthura gloated.

"Indeed," Revan said, eager to get to the stabbing before the acid started to melt. "I'd rather destroy you, Wynn."

"So the time has come, has it? You both wish to stand against a Sith Master and perish, do you? _Then so be it!_ " he yelled.

Revan flourished her lightsaber and leaped at Uthar Wynn. He only barely got his own lightsaber up in time to block her attack. Yuthura's lightsaber came a scant moment later, and he had to step back to block that with the other blade of his lightsaber.

They danced at each other for a while like that, lightsaber against lightsaber. Revan felt Yuthura follow her every move as if she were her other half in the Force.

Still, she wanted to make this quick. With a deceptively calm motion of her hand, she grabbed the ceremonial lightsaber and stabbed Uthar Wynn through the heart when his lightsaber was occupied elsewhere. After all, with two blades, one could not block three things simultaneously.

"You are weak, Uthar, and the Force has abandoned you!" Yuthura gloated as the life fizzled out of her former master. She smiled, predatory like the shyracks in the caves, and turned to Revan. "Uthar is finished, and a new order is brought to the academy. Excellent." She paused, expression faltering. "While I do like you... truly... I'm afraid I'm not the type to share power with anyone. Even you."

"Your doubt is palpable in the Force," Revan informed her, but raised her blue, Jedi Council-approved lightsaber in front of her anyway. The color looked good against Yuthura's violet skin. "Are you sure there's no way other than this?"

"I... I'm sure. I told you there was no such thing as friends among the Sith, didn't I? Let's... get this over with."

Yuthura struck her, then, like someone taught by Uthar Wynn – by Malak – inevitably would. Their concept of power was one-sided, and by rejecting utterly anything but selfish striving for solitary power, they chained themselves with restrictions of their potential. The _true_ Sith understood the value of cooperation and collaboration on the grand scale.

Or perhaps that was the Jedi in Revan. It was a necessary part of her plans, at the very least.

As were power and control. She danced beneath Yuthura's lightsaber, leading the fight off the frozen acid and to more solid ground. It wouldn't do to have her next apprentice have her feet melted off, after all.

"Unghhh! Stop! I... I yield!" Yuthura cried out. She held her side and panted. "You are... too strong for me. Gather your hatred and strike me down... if that is your will."

"No," Revan said. She turned off her lightsaber. "I have greater plans for you, Yuthura."

"I... was right the first time, back at the cantina, wasn't I? There is something different about you... more so than I even suspected."

Revan smiled. She felt the trepidation rolling off Yuthura in the Force: Yuthura knew the ways of Uthar Wynn and the rest of the pathetic fools of this academy, forcing their way to a shallow victory through brute force. Someone stronger than her sparing her would be unprecedented. That was also why the academy was no good at turning out students: Uthar Wynn, like many of the people who had chosen to follow Revan, saw the students as nothing but extensions of his power, to be discarded once they stood at the brink of realizing their true potential.

"You are right, Yuthura," Revan said. She smiled a placid smile – it was so easy to fall into the Jedi manners after being trained by them twice, even if her eyes were gold and cold – and paused. "I am in need of an apprentice. You are a most suitable candidate."

"An apprentice? But-" Yuthura's eyes narrowed. "Who are you?"

"There is a grave threat in the Unknown Regions, Yuthura," Revan said. "The Red Sith will come to the galaxy, and they will destroy all that we have known. Everything I have built is to avert that fate. Everything I do is to avert that fate."

Yuthura stumbled back a step. "You are-"

"Darth Revan, Dark Lord of the Sith."

"Lord Revan," Yuthura whispered, falling to her knees. "You- But how- You came in a Jedi ship!"

Revan smiled another placed smile. "For now, my goals align with those of the Jedi Council. Malak cannot be left in charge of my fleet. After he has been removed..." Revan let her smile take on an edge she would never show on Dantooine. "Well. If they see sense, they will join me. If they don't, I will save them and the Republic from the Sith Empire regardless."

Yuthura swallowed, the fringes of her desperate attempt to reconsider all she had known of Darth Revan leaking out to the Force. "If I may," she eventually hesitantly asked, "why did you Fall?"

"Love," Revan said. "I loved the Republic, its people, even the Jedi, selflessly, like a good Jedi should. And the only way to save from destruction was to reject all they stood for."

"The Code- That is not what I was taught about love and Falling," Yuthura stammered out.

"Then let me teach you better." Revan held out a hand.

Yuthura took it and let herself be helped up. "Lord Revan. I swear myself to you, with you as my Master and I forever known for the honor of being your apprentice."

Revan smiled. Very good. "For now, I am pretending the Jedi mind wipe has still held and I have no memories of being Revan. We'll claim that I brought you back to the Light and you want to help me on my quest to stop Malak." She paused. "Some of my traveling companions are annoying. Don't kill any of them unless I tell you to."

"And when you do?"

"Leave Bastila Shan to me." Dark hatred twisted into a smile on Revan's face. "I shall have my revenge."

Yuthura bowed. "Yes, Master."

Oh, Revan liked this. Revan liked this very much. She smiled as she turned. "Come now, my apprentice. We have places to visit."

"Where are we going?"

"Kashyyyk." Revan let Yuthura see her smile. "I believe we have some slaves to free."

And a Star Map to find, of course, but- The blaze of approval in the Force was all Revan needed.


End file.
